Getting a new 22" widescreen

[Oliwerko]

Hiya to all.

I finally decided to give up my old CRT 17" Relisys (which began to change colors at will) in favour of some cool 22" LCD. However, I have only a very rough idea of what I am getting. For that reason, I would like to ask you for some help.
I am sure I want a 22" monitor, not more, not less. I guess it's bullshit not to buy a widescreen, am I right?

After some research, I came to two possibilities, LG and Samsung. I've heard they are both very good. I don't want any high-end machine, but I surely want a 2ms response time for games, and one thing I feared getting an LCD for a long time was the issue that on the older LCD's black wasn't really black. I want black to be as black as it can be, what parameters affect this?

I have picked 2 hot candidates so far - Samsung 226CW and LG W2252TQ-PF

I still don't understand the contrast thing, some have 10 000:1 while others 3000 or 1000:1, which is pretty big difference. How is it in reality, not in numbers? How does this reflect on the real screen?

Can you recommend any of these? Or can you tell me why not buy them, what parameters to consider and what to avoid?
Any pointers are helpful, thanks.

[HillBilly]

Samsung 226CW

I'm viewing this thread with it now and I'm having the greatest time.

Well, I have a 226BW. But at least I can recommend you the series.

[Khris]

About the contrast: the higher the number the better.
A contrast ratio of 30000:1 means that a white pixel is 30000 times brighter than a black pixel.

[LGM]

Samsung and LG are both great brands. I'd probably go Samsung personally, which is what I have. The contrast ratio does make a difference, especially if you do a lot of digital imaging. So the higher the number the better. 3000:1 compared to 10000:1 would mean the blacks are pretty black, and the whites are pretty white.

As far as I can tell, 3000 is pretty good. 10000 would be expensive as hell. This article might help you; http://www.practical-home-theater-guide.com/contrast-ratio.html

[vict0r]

About the contrast: the higher the number the better.
A contrast ratio of 30000:1 means that a white pixel is 30000 times brighter than a black pixel.

There is though something called dynamic and static contrast, which can affect these numbers, making everything really confusing. Static contrast ratio is how big the difference between a white and a black pixel in a static image can be. Dynamic contrast ratio however is how big the difference can be over time as the brightness of the screen can be changed, for example.  A 30000:1 contrast ratio isn't necessarily better then a 3000:1 one, and the two terms should not be compared.

[Evil]

You really need to look at them both at the same time to really tell which looks better. Some of my friends bought two TVs and played the same videos symotaneously on both TVs to compare contrast and color differences between their two choices. Depending on your budget, it's not always easy to buy two TVs at once, but if you've got a friend who's also looking for a TV, maybe you could convince them to buy the other TV.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I used to think Samsung was a great brand until my 11 month old 22" Syncmaster 225BW widescreen stopped wanting to turn on.  The Samsungs seem to be pretty dodgy (try squeezing the outer shell on some of their monitor cases, you can feel it give with just a little pressure), though I loved the tilt and swivel base my old one had .  Also, since they are no longer manufacturing that model (already!) I had to get an insurance refund instead of a replacement, which turned out to be pretty good since I found a 26" Emprex for 50 dollars more, and so far it's very nice.  They do have really great colors, but don't believe the 10000:1 contrast nonsense Samsung tries to sell (it's all done with a software program, which any monitor can do).  2000:1 native contrast ratio is pretty much the best for moderate monitors right now (1000:1 is standard, which the Samsung models that say 10000:1 actually have). 

For good blacks, gamma and contrast are your primary settings.  A monitor out of the box is never calibrated for accurate colors, just for bright, pleasing colors to get it sold, so you will need to do some adjustments.  The nvidia monitor calibration is a good start for getting basic color levels, though if you want them to be really accurate you'll want to manually adjust the settings with a color guide as a reference, something like this: http://epaperpress.com/monitorcal/.  This website offers some very basic calibration settings, so if you want even better colors you'll need to do some searching.

[Gilbert]

Well. I think while there are some different levels of quality for different brands in general, it's also important to note what kind of users and price range a particular product is aimed for (and your luck, unlucky people may get a faulty product while others may have satisfactory results with the same product).

For example, I'm using this Samsung panel at work. It's an old model and is discontinued now. It's one within the lower price range (I think). While I know many people are happy with Samsung products, the quality of this panel was just awfully crappy (I'm really surprised CNet gave such a high score in their review). Terrible image quality (and the display was just unrecognisable without much calibration) and slooooooooooow response time (I was about to vomit every time I was just scrolling the text in M$Word).

So, my advice is, go out and look more, see the real stuff in action in shops, or listen to users and see whether they are happy with certain products, and invest some time before choosing what you really want, depending on your desired quality and how much you want to spend. Even after hearing good things about a brand, it does not mean that all its products are good.


Anyway, I don't like LCDs and I think I won't replace my good old CRT at home anytime soon.

[Oliwerko]

Even after hearing good things about a brand, it does not mean that all its products are good.

Of course, that's why I ask.
I also much more like CRTs, but having a flat one is a space-necessity for me at this time (and getting a CRT today is much bigger problem than getting a flattie, I think).

Do you have any LG experience?

[Mantra of Doom]

I have a 20.1 LG Flatron widescreen monitor and I love it. I use my computer for gaming and graphics as well as general office work. I believe I got it from a Circuit City (which are all closing now) for around the $300 mark two years ago. With a bit of tweaking the colors are very nice indeed. And I run two monitors, the LG and what I believe was a mid to high end Sony LCD, and they both have very good colors. Blacks are very black once the settings are tweaked.

When I was buying my LG, I looked at a lot of Samsungs... and chose the LG over those because the colors looked better, it has a pretty sturdy casing and the price was very nice.

It's best to look at as many as you can... especially in stores where they hook the monitors up to a game instead of a random windows picture slide show. Either way, good luck in your hunt.

[Oliwerko]

Thanks for advice, all of you.
Community proved helpful once again.

I surely go and check them in the shop and I'll see.
Thanks again.